My Journey Through Israel: May 2011

Welcome to Jerusalem, where people speak English, the buses are super confusing, and streets are always super busy and filled with people. I guess I am not in Beit Shean anymore! My first week in Jerusalem I was more confused than anything trying to learn my way around the city and get used to living in a place that holds more than 18,000 people. I was super-intimated by all the Haredi people on the bus, afraid I would accidentally fall and hit one of them, and didn’t want to get lost and end up in a wrong neighborhood, either Arab or super-religious, but now after almost a month of living here, I think life is getting easier. I have had so much fun in Jerusalem (and sometimes Tel Aviv) because there is always fun stuff going on and I like being with lots of other otzmanikim, and other Americans and people my age. Beit Shean was wonderful, but I did miss going out and being with people my age. We have had a few extra-fun events within our Otzma family or Israel in general over the last month.

Our first weekend in Jerusalem
Yom Zicharon and Yom Hatzmaut
Mayumana and Kohav Nolad
Birthday/Going away party extravaganza

Our first weekend in Jerusalem was really nice, and a good opportunity to get acquainted to Jerusalem. On Thursday night we all went to town to experience some J-lem nightlife and ended up finding this great bar we all like that is an abandoned toy factory. On Friday for Shabbat, Erin, Alex, and I went to a woman’s house he knew who was a holocaust survivor. She was super nice and her apartment was really cool filled with lots books, and interesting things she acquired. Her kitchen door also had little notes from her husband that he wrote her everyday to tell her how much he loved her. It was also really nice to have some yummy Ashkenazi Jewish food, after all the Sephardic food I had been eating. It was nice to be at a Shabbat dinner, where we ate Matzo ball soup and in spoke in English, discussing everything from Politics to family. On Saturday, we all did a bar-be-queue together in the kfar (the place we all live) outside on the grass. It was a really nice way to spend a Shabbat, everyone brought some food and we all shared and ate together, sitting outside for hours, eating, talking, and enjoying the weather.

Yom Zicharon and Yom Hatzmaut are Israel’s Memorial and Independence Day, which happen back to back. They take place on back-to-back days because in order to have a state and independence there were many sacrifices that had to be made. Memorial Day in Israel is a somber day with lots of memorial services taking place throughout the country’. Everyone in Israel either knows someone that died in battle or has family or friends that know someone who died, so this holiday is very personal and affects the entire country. I went to a ceremony given by MASA, which highlighted several people with interesting stories who died in recent years. One story, which I have heard before, but always stands out to me, is Michael Levin. He made aliyah to Israel and joined one of the elite combat units by his own choice. He was visiting his family in the States, when the Lebanon war broke out, and when he heard the news he immediately flew back to Israel to help fight, again by his own choice. He died fighting that battle at 21 years old. The night was filled with other stories and comments from the fallen’s family friends. It was a very moving ceremony to set the mood for the day. During the day there is a siren that lasts 2 minutes, where everyone literally stops everything they are doing and stands to remember the fallen. People stop in the middle of busy streets, cars pull over on the road and people get out to stand, it’s really an amazing moment. There is another siren the week before for Holocaust Remembrance Day, where the same thing happens.

Upon sundown of Yom Zicharon the country switches from memorial mode to party mode really quickly. Yom Hatzmaut (Israel’s independence day) is like 4^th of July x 10 with crazy and bar-b-ques and parties all throughout the country. I was in Jerusalem for the night, and went down to the center to experience the street parties of Jerusalem. There were tons of people everyone, lots sporting blue and white and Israeli flags, live music, people spraying shaving cream/silly string and cheering down the streets. It was a really cool sight to see, so many people and everyone being so patriotic. The next day is a holiday from work and school, but it’s secular which means transportation runs and things are open! I went to the beach in Tel Aviv with some friends to spend the day relaxing and enjoying Israel’s 63 wonderful years! Happy Birthday Israel!!

Last week was a musically inclined weekend, with two fun events that I attended. The first was Mayumana, which is like the Israeli version of stomp. It was really cool to see and so were the performances leading up to it, as part of MASA’s final event. Then I went to live studios of Kohav Nolad (A Star is Born—The Israeli version of American Idol) to see the show for this week. It was really cool. The performances were pretty good and I got to see what it’s like to film those types of shows behind the scenes, with the stage manager coming out all the time to tell us when to cheer and be quiet. Also the promos were all live for the hours before the show and in between we had fun dance parties in the studio, while we were waiting for the show to start.

Then this weekend, we had a bunch of people come to Jerusalem to celebrate Lauren’s birthday and Eli leaving. We had a nice Shabbat dinner, like we used to in Ashkelon, where everyone made something and we all ate together. Then we had a big party to celebrate, which was really fun! It was just one of those great parties, without lots of drama, where everyone got a long and had fun. There may have been a song I wrote that Tracy and I sang for Lauren and Eli, and altogether, it was a really great night. Then we bar-bequed again on Saturday and spent the day relaxing and hanging out with everyone who came to visit.

My day-to-day life in Jerusalem has been really great also. I love my internship with Young Judaea! I really like the people I work with in the office, and I think the organization is really great and I would love to possibly work with them in the future! I also seem to be doing pretty well in the office, after I had a nice meeting with the director and am always receiving lots of positive feedback. It’s kind of like Beit Shean, where I am just in my element. This whole year, I really haven’t done anything crazy out of the ordinary, but I have been flying with success and it all has been so natural. Whether it singing songs with 4^th graders or talking to birthright people about a YJ program at the bars, everything I have been doing is just my natural personality coming to life. It’s such a great feeling to know that just because I’m being me I am being successful.

Overall my life in Jerusalem has been really fun and interesting. It has certainly been more hectic than Beit Shean, but now that I know at least the basic buses I need and generally how to get around, it’s not quite as confusing. I have had a lot of fun and have continued to be successful in my volunteering. Yeah, my life is great! =)

memorial day ceremony

Israeli independence day!!

MASA final event!

Mayunama!!

kohav nolad contestants

kohav nolad judges

the whole gang at kohav nolad!

partying in jerusalem with otzma friends! t-mac!=)

Throwing out the NY for lauren's bday! go yankees!!

Passover in Israel is a time to clean, clean, and just when you think you’ve cleaned as much as humanly possible you clean some more. It’s also a time to buy lots of new stuff, particularly stuff for the house, whether that is some new bedding, a stovetop, or a whole new kitchen and living room. It was really funny to see how crazy people get around Passover both in terms of cleaning and buying all kinds of new stuff. On the eve before Passover, I got to experience a “Hametz hunt”. The main reason for the extensive cleaning process is to get rid of any possible residue of hametz (anything that is forbidden to eat on Passover like bread, cookies, etc). So the night before the holiday, once it gets dark all the families (at least in Beit shean) took out their flashlights, shut the lights in the house and went around looking for any traced of hametz. It was so cute and the kids were so excited, it was like a treasure hunt or something, like they had mission to make 100% sure there was not a crumb in the house.

For the actual seder, I went with my host family to a moshav near Jerusalem where Ilana’s whole side of the family got together to celebrate (over 60 Sephardic Jews). It was interesting to say the least. The seder itself was very long and they spoke really quickly, so it was a bid hard to follow, plus there were about 10 children under the age of 3 that were getting very ancy and I was trying to calm at least the ones from my host family down throughout the 3ish hours I believe the seder was. One of the highlights of the seder was Nissim and another guy (they were leading the seder) decided to put on a costume and pretend to be Egyptians and yelled at everyone else like we were slaves. Passover is supposed to be more meaningful if you actually feel as if you are leaving from Egypt, so maybe they were trying to evoke that or maybe they were just trying to be funny. Whatever the case, it was really entertaining and my favorite part of the seder. The foods were different from a typical Ashkenazi seder too. For example this is definitely the first seder in which rice was served. Sephardic Jews eat rice and other grains, unlike the Ashkenazim. Although, they do use different spices, which makes the food all, taste a little weird. Also the charoset was like a paste, which was a little weird but pretty good. I still missed the charoset I’m used to though; I think I will have to make it for fun one night to get my yearly fix. Anyway the moshav we stayed at was in the middle of the woods and we all stayed in log cabins. The next day it was hag (like Shabbat), which means that you can’t drive, use electronics, etc. So the whole family hung out together, kind of like on Shabbat, barbequed and enjoyed the wilderness. It was very pleasant, the place was beautiful, and it was a great opportunity for me to hang out with my host family and to use all the Hebrew skills I gained from my time and Beit Shean.

After the Seder, I went to visit Moriah for a few days, where I saw a bit of the center of the country, without being in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv. It was a really nice city, not to big, not to small, and her family was awesome. Her parents are American, so they speak English in the house, but the kids have so many Hebrew expressions that can’t really be translated, so they end up talking hebglish, which is very entertaining. Even I have started to mix together the two languages to come up with a unique mixture of things I like to say from both. While I was with Moriah, we went to the mall and saw a really cute balloon display for Passover, which showed the whole story, from all the plagues, to pharaoh, to Moses parting the sea. My time with Moriah and her family was really fun! They were so welcoming, warm, but unlike the people of Beit Shean they were very American so it was easy to relate to them.

Then Arielle and I went on our adventure to Greece. We went to Athens, saw the Acropolis and all the other historical sites and then we had 2 more days. Athens was cool, but you don’t need more than a day there, especially not on Easter Sunday and good Friday when nothing is open anyways. The acropolis was really neat though and I got the best jumping picture ever in front of. I’m pretty sure Athens should use it for an ad. Then we ferried to Santorini where Arielle and I played endless games of Yaniv. We arrived to Santorini and Stavros (the hostel owner) was there waiting for us to take us to our hostel. He was the best! He was so kind and went above and beyond to help us with anything we needed on the Island. Santorini itself was so beautiful, it was amazing to look outside and basically see a postcard. We saw the sunset in Oia (my favorite part of the trip), went to the volcano, red rock beach, black beach, and all over the whole Island. We rented an ATV so we could go and explore the island how we wanted and it was so much fun! Plus the ATV was orange and blue!! (Along with our hostel room, and so many things throughout Santorini- it’s a gator-loving place =)) The only problem was that it was quite cold, and not beachy whether like we had planned. The vacation was still really fun though, especially Santorini- I recommend going there; it’s a wonderful place for a vacay (or holiday as the rest of the world calls is).

Then we came back to Tel Aviv to go to the beach and embrace the warm weather and the Hebrew we missed so much. It actually did feel very comforting to start hearing Hebrew in the Cyprus airport, and then to come back to Israel, which has been our home for the past 7 months. We have created a life here, something special; something I think will connect us all to Israel, and make us come back as often as we can to visit. In Tel Aviv I met with Dana and tried to explain how wonderful Beit Shean was, but I still don’t think I convinced her. In a Tel Aviv state of mind, Beit Shean seems so far from reality, that it’s hard to see how wonderful it can be. It’s definitely a developing town, people have true points, but I still think until people go there and spend a significant amount of time with the people, you can’t judge, because there is something special in Beit Shean that I haven’t seen anywhere else. From Tel Aviv I spent one more night with Moriah and then I was off to Jerusalem for the last part of my program!